FITCHBURG -- The Fitchburg/Monty Tech co-op ice hockey team knew it had to leave it all on the ice in the regular-season finale against Marlboro.

The Red Raiders, needing a win to secure a Central Mass. Division 3 tournament berth, did everything in their power to earn those two precious points, but the Panthers played spoiler with a 6-2 victory Wednesday afternoon at Fitchburg State University's Wallace Civic Center.

"Obviously it didn't end the way we wanted it to," Fitchburg coach Steve Lowney said. "We wanted to win this last game and get into the tournament, but certainly it wasn't for a lack of effort. I've said it only a few times before, but this time the score doesn't tell the story of that game.

Fitchburg's Cory Paul fires a shot during Wednesday's game.

We had a lot of really good chances, especially when it was close. It just didn't happen for us.

"I'm pleased with the way these guys battled today and all season. The way we started, to make this last game meaningful, it's no small feat. They really did a nice job. They got better and we became a much better team than when we started."

Fitchburg finished at 8-10-2 overall, while the Panthers are 12-8 and await the unveiling of Saturday's tournament brackets.

The Red Raiders got late life in the second period when senior sniper Cory Paul netted his second goal of the game with under two minutes left in the period, cutting the deficit to 4-2.

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And Paul had a golden opportunity to get the Red Raiders even closer to start the third period, but Marlboro goalie Ben Wickleman came up with a gigantic stop on Paul's breakaway.

"We had a nice breakaway opportunity at 4-2," Lowney said. "The kid made a great save. Maybe it's different if that goes in, maybe it's not."

The Panthers cashed in a minute later when Sam Voss (2 goals, 2 assists) roofed a backhander at the five-minute mark for a 5-2 advantage.

Fitchburg pulled its netminder with 4:10 to play and had countless chances to score but Wickleman (26 saves) stood his ground, including big stops on Connor Casacca and Josh Emma, to keep the Red Raiders reeling.

"Their goaltender was huge tonight," Lowney said.

Paul, who ended his high school career with both Fitchburg goals, certainly was Fitchburg's top player and perhaps the most electric player on the ice.

"It doesn't matter who we play, whether it's the Grotons or Wachusetts, whoever we play he's one of the best players on the ice," Lowney said. "His speed and skill set really separate him from a lot of players at this level. The kid works his tail off every game, every shift and it shows. He stuck out tonight. A couple of great goals, several other opportunities. It wasn't just tonight, it's been all season. That's the Cory we've been getting."

Fitchburg had mixed results in the second period. The desperate Red Raiders had two goals by speedster Paul, but they also surrendered three in the period and trailed 4-2 after two.

Only 1:28 in, Voss got by a Fitchburg defender and flicked a harmless backhander that somehow found its way past the Fitchburg goalie.

But Paul -- showcasing his great hands and feet -- gave the Red Raider life, taking a feed from Kyle Peralta (2 assists) and Emma and sizzling a wrist shot into the top shelf for a power-play goal at 3:17.

"(Paul) was huge tonight, no question," Lowney said. "He's been huge all season long. He was definitely a factor."

The Panthers put the Red Raider down 4-1 and briefly zapped the life out of the building with back-to-back goals by Andrew LeBlanc and Nick Macing. LeBlanc's goal came off a wrist shot from the near boards that tipped off the goaltender's glove and went into the net at 7:19.

But Paul once again gave the Red Raiders life and hope with his second goal of the period.

On a rush with Peralta, Paul skated in and uncorked another top-shelf wrister past Wickleman at 13:47.

It was a tough, physical first period by Fitchburg, but it still found itself down 1-0 after 15 minutes.

At 3:47 of the opening period, Marlboro's Joe Gilchrest fired a shot on Fitchburg goalie Zack Hachey that was turned away. But the juicy rebound popped right out to Steve Lampedecchio, who knocked in the rebound goal for the game's first goal.

Fitchburg had its chances to net the equalizer, however, but Wickleman registered all eight saves in the period.

Casassa picked off a pass at the Panther blue line and walked in, but his nasty wrist shot was smothered after the Marlboro goalie sprawled out on the ice.

Anthony Hoffman ripped a slap shot with 5:30 left, and Paul fired off of Wickleman's facemask later in the period.

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